News articles on the tyre retail business
(Akron/Tire Review) Portland-based Tire Factory has hired Anthony Showen as its new chief operations officer. Showen joins Tire Factory with more than 15 years of experience in operations and manufacturing. Tire Factory is a marketing group with some 180 retail locations in 11 western US states.
With unit sales of 7.06 million expected for 2006, a domestic replacement market share of 26 per cent and thriving export sales, no wonder Lassa producer Brisa is expanding its manufacturing and warehousing headquarters. As Brisa (Bridgestone Sabanci Tyre Manufacturing and Trading Inc) continues the $176 million production expansion programme it started at its Izmit plant in Turkey in 2004, Tyres & Accessories went to see how the plans are developing and visit some of the company’s retail outlets in Istanbul.
Fast-fit network Hi-Q saddled up with Goodyear recently to ensure visitors to this year’s Blenheim International Horse Trials were as safe on four wheels as they were on four legs. Goodyear is the official British Eventing Safety and Innovation Partner and fast-fit expert, Hi-Q supported the partnership by offering vouchers to visitors and participants at the leading equestrian event which took place at the beginning of September 2006.
In June, as part of Tyres & Accessories’ 60th anniversary celebrations, we ran a competition giving readers the chance to win one of two Blaupunkt TravelPilot Lucca satellite navigation units. Having counted all the entries, checked all the answers and contacted the winners, Tyres & Accessories is pleased to announce that Mike Garwood of National Tyres and Autocare and James E Gilmore of Cooper Tires have each won the star prize.
T&A visited Mike Garwood at National’s Stockport office to present the prize. Garwood, who currently works as a project manager for the well known retail chain, is celebrated 30 years in the tyre business in September, so the prize could not have come at a better time.
Kwik-Fit has appointed Paul House as trading director responsible for the company’s commercial, buying and supply chain activities. He reports directly to CEO, Ian Fraser. Paul House’s initial focus will be to develop new trading strategies for the UK business and to leverage buying synergies amongst other Kwik-Fit Group companies. He will also be tasked with extracting greater value from the company’s supply chain.
South African company Tiger Wheels Limited (TIW) reported a 40.4 per cent decline in earnings per share for the year ended June, online news sources have reported. The group reported a 6.7 per cent increase in revenue to 3.3 billion rand while operating income declined by 46.4 per cent. Profit for the year also went down from 157 million rand to just over 79 million.
Leading fast-fit chain, National Tyres and Autocare have introduced a new Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) accredited brake training programme for its’ nationwide network of over 200 branches. National have added to their existing very successful City & Guilds brake training with a new Technical Awareness & Diagnostic Course produced in conjunction with Entyrety and Acorn Training.
(Akron/Tire Review) Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire confirmed that it had purchased White Tire, based in Virginia. White Tire has six retail stores, 11 commercial centres and six retread shops, and serves customers in Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Under BFNAT’s ownership, White Tire LLC will be a subsidiary operation.
Where would you go for the ultimate in winter tyre testing? Somewhere that is hard to beat must be Kiruna, the northernmost city in Swedish Lapland, where temperatures of -35ºC are the norm. Kiruna is used for testing by car manufacturers such as Mercedes, SAAB and Volvo and it was the venue chosen by Interstate Tires for a week-long evaluation by selected dealers of its new winter tyre, the Arctic Claw. This was a trip with a difference; after a two-hour journey from Stockholm by dog sledge, the distributors arrived at their destination, the world-famous Icehotel in Jukkasjárvi, where the inside temperature was a comparatively balmy -6ºC!
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Limited has launched a campaign which it says aims to “protect UK customers from unknowingly buying tyres that were not designed for road conditions in this market.” The campaign targets Asian and African manufactured tyres bearing the Dunlop and SP trademarks, but designed for their local markets, and not imported or recommended by the UK company. The company has issued the first of a series of claims against importers and distributors dealing in unauthorised Dunlop tyres. The claim was issued in the English High Court 1 September.
Motorists who work on their own vehicles at home often want to lift the car to remove a wheel or even carry out an underbody examination, perhaps of the exhaust system. The emergency jack provided with the car is designed specifically just to enable a wheel change, lifting the vehicle at the correct point by the minimum amount required only to change a flat tyre. So having a robust small trolley jack at home is a useful aid to safe lifting for more extensive work.
With less than 1 per cent of the total UK market, no-one is saying the cold weather segment is huge, but speaking to influential market representatives reveals that the last couple of years have seen the industry make renewed efforts to raise awareness, emphasising both the safety benefits and profitability that cold weather tyres offer. Some manufacturers are even expecting the segment to total 3 million units “in the medium to long term.” Tyres & Accessories spoke to the leading cold weather players and asked what progress they have made and what’s happening next?
In short the answer is growth. Many of the manufacturers surveyed by T&A said 2005 was a good year for cold-weather sales, while all were positive about their performance this year. T&A estimates, based on Europool figures suggest that almost 54,000 non-truck winter tyres were sold in the UK last year, up almost 15 per cent on 2004.
(Akron/Tire Review) Red Cap Total Car Care, reportedly the largest tyre dealer and service centre dealer in the Middle East, has implemented a point-of-sale (POS) solution from TireWare Inc. across its chain of retail stores. Red Cap, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, is a division of the Tamimi Group.
(Akron/Tire Review) Tire distributor Friend Tire Co. and Independent Tire Dealers Group have combined their existing marketing/buying groups for independent dealers into one programme. “The Independent Tire Dealers Group program is a perfect fit with our own Nationwide Tire Dealers Program,” said Don Isbell, president of Friend Tire. “Combined, the two offers the independent tire dealer everything they need to operate a successful business. We will begin immediately to explore the opportunities presented by this new configuration.”
Goodyear India Ltd. is to invest 500 million rupees (£5.7 million) in strengthening its Indian retail operation in order to capitalise on the country’s rapidly expanding automotive market. Goodyear India will set up 50 shop-in-shop branded stores by the end of 2006 and at least 250 more by end-2008, according to the local news reports.
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